Shower door construction



July 28, 1936. J, A, WQODWORTH 2,048,909

S HOWER DOOR CONS TRUCTION Filed Sept. 3, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 {H V a I Z INVEN TOR.

. War b5 BY v A RN y 936. J. A. WOODWORTH 2,048,909

SHOWER DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 27 INVENTOR.

Patented July 28, 1936 f UNITED STATES SHOWER DOOR. res-ve John A. Woodworth, Los Angeleacalif. Application September 3, 935, Serial No; 33,941

4 Claims.

This invention" relates to shower door goonstructions and pertains particularly to a sectional construction embodying a folding mechanism adapted to cooperate in extended position: firzwith an exposed edge of a bath-tub or the like with which the door is associated and adapted to be folded away from such edge and out of the way of the user when not in use. I Y

One of the particular objects of the invention is to provide a folding shower door which may be disposed in water-deflecting relation to one edge or wall of a bath-tub with which the shower is associated to prevent water from escapingfrom the shower whenin use and which will fold away from said edge or wall into a position in which it is conveniently accessible to theuser; I

A further object of the invention is to provide a sectional folding door device for a shower associated with a bath-tub or the like which will cooperate witha wall portion along an exposed sideof thebath-tub to effectively seal the shower I against escape of water during-useand which will fold inwardly of said bath-tub-after use, whereby any water present on the inner surface ofsaid 7 door will be caused to drain into the tub itself,

A further object of the invention is to provide a; folding shower door construction which will cooperate with a bath-tub wall portion along anexposed side of the tub with which the shower is associated, to produce a,substantially continuous water seal at the juncture of :said door with said wall portion-when in use. V V,

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination shower door and towel rack, said shower door being of a sectional folding construe-r tion and movable .into position along one edge or wa'lllof the bath-tub in water-sealing relation thereto with the towel rack disposed exteriorly of the shower when the shower is in ruse, and,movable into folded position away from said edge aorcwall with said towel rack disposed in a positionconveniently accessible to the user.

Alfurther object of the invention is to provide arsectionalxfolding door for a shower associated with a bath-tub or the like which will provide a substantially continuous enclosure for the shower in cooperation with the wallportions of the, room withinwhich the tub is located, and which may be folded out of enclosing position when-not in use so as to provide free'access to said tub for cleaning purposes or the like. Y

. The device of the present inventionis adapted primarily for use in connection with showers which are established over a bath-tub or the like, inplaceoi theconventionalshower curtaimthe bath-tub having one end abutting against a wall of thebathwoom and being customarily enclosed onthree sides, m example, the two ends and oneside, bythe walls of the bath-room, and the folding door construction of this invention being secured to one of the bath-room walls and adapted to be positioned along the open edge or exposed side of said bath-tub to establish a substantially completely enclosed shower zone or room, The devic-e'of the present invention preferably v comprises a plurality of inter-hinged panels. hingedly mounted to one bath-room wall adjacent the end of the bath-tub away from the shower and showerf control mechanism, and in line with/the open edge or wall of an exposed side ofthe-bath-tub itself, although in one embodiment the device is shown mountedon the wall atthe same end as the shower mechanism. The height of the folding door mechanism is preferably such that the u'pper edge of said door, when-in. extended-orsealing position; will be sufficiently elevated with respect to the shower device that there a is small likelihood of' water splashing over said door when theshower is in useand, in thepreferredembodiment the number and width of the individual panels forming said doorare preferably such that a substantially complete partition is formed betweenthe bathroom; walls at the opposite ends of the tub, along the open edge of said tub. The individual panels of the-folding door, according to the preferred embodime'nt are preferably hingedly connected to one another so that the door; may be folded inwardlyof the tub and then longitudinally of the tub away fromthe shower -and shower control mechanism so as to permit unobstructed movement; onth e par-tor the user within the tub itself;,;topermit free use of; a towel or the like or to provide free access to the tub for cleaning purposes. i A portion of the sectional door construction; for example, one of the folding panels, is preferably provided with a suitable form of towel holding means. which is sodisposed with respect to; such panel that a towelmay -be held by such means at a position exteriorly of the shower when the device is in extendedposition andin a position accessible to the shower user when the device is infolded position. 77

-,Other objects of :the invention will be more specifically set forth in the following description, or will be apparenttherefrom. p

- The accompanying drawings show a preferred embodiment and one modification of the invention; and re rri t t '5; Fi

sisra'zplan. view. .1.1.

batngtub provided 5 of the tub showing the device of the present in vention in folded position;

Fig. 6 is a broken-away elevation takenalong line 6-6 in Fig. 1, showing details of :the panel construction on somewhat larger scale; and

Fig. '7 is a view corresponding toFi'g. 1,'sh0wing a modified folding shower door structure;

a conventional form of bath tubis-shown' at I enclosed'on' threesidesby walls 2, 3, and 4 which may constitute portions of the bathroom walls" structure of the present invention is conveniently secured to one of the shower walls such as, the wall 4 which is oppositethe shower device 5 through a suitable hinge mounting which may comprise attachment member ll secured tothe wall 4 in any suitable manner as by meansof screws or thelike, to which one side of a suitable hinge 12, preferably of "the piano-hinge? type, is secured, the other side of" said hinge being secured to the first panel l3of the door I4. In

the particular embodiment herein shown, the

'door I4 is shown as formed of three panels l3,

may-be employedat 23, glass being given merely' as an examp1e.- According to thepreferred embodiment of the invention,'the panel is prefer ably so hinged to the wall-4 as to swing inwardly of the bath-tub, the next panel l5 being oppositely hinged and the last panel l6 being hinged to fold. in the same direction as the panel [3,

whereby the door maybe folded in accordion fashion through a position as shown at A in Fig. 1 into completely fold'edposition such as shown at B adjacent-the'wall 4.

In order'to effect an adequate seal between the lower edgeof the door l4 and the edge of the bath-tub l I preferablyprovide a deformable sealing member extending along the lower edge of said'door'at each of the panels l3, I5, and I6, and referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 6, this sealing member is shown-as a rubber strip 26 held within a-gro'ove 21 secured as at 28 to the lower edge 29 of the panel. 'Thevertical dimension of the strip 25 with respect to the separation panel in question to have approached the wall 32 in the direction indicated by the arrow C in Fig. 3 in the closing movement thereof, the strip 26 will assume a deformed condition as shown at 33 by being forced into tight engagement with 5 the surface 3| causing the panel to persist in extended position along said tub side wall. The strips 26 are slightly longer than the distance between the center lines of adjacent hinges so thatthey will be brought into forcible end-toend engagementatpositions substantially in line with the hinge between adjacent panels when Qsaid panels are in the extended position, as shown at 3.4 in Fig. .6, so as to abut and form an effective and substantially continuous water seal 15 along the wall 32 and thus prevent egress of water from theshower zone while in use.

Theo'uter panel I6 is preferably provided with a towel rack or the like 4| disposed at the side Referring to Figs. 1 throughfi of the drawings,

thereof which is exterior of the tub I when the 20 door [4 is in extended position, it being apparent that with this particulararrangement"ofdoor panel's-said towel rack will be disposed interiorly of the shower zone when the door is in folding or folded-position. This construction provides 25 for protecting the towel from the splash of water within the shower when the shower is-in use, but as soon as the door is moved toward folded position, the towel rack 4| is {swung interiorly of the showerintofree-access bythe shower user. 303

In the embodiment of the invention shown. in- Fig. 7, the folding door 45 is hingedly mounted to the bath-room wall 46 at the end of the tub- 41 at'which the shower device 48 is disposed, and extendsonlypartway along the open-edge of the tub, for example, a matter of two-thirds of the length of suchtub,'so as to provide apartial enclosure of the shower. In viewof the fact that his necessary to enclose the end of the -tub at which-theshower device is located,-it-is not con- 46 venient to fold the door inwardly-of the tub a's in the previously described form, duejto the'pres-' ence ofthe shower device 48 and the' 'associated controls 49. For this reason I dispose the first panel a on a hinge 5|, mounted on the wall 46', in such manner as to permitthe door toswing outwardly of th'e'tub through a folding position A into'folded position as shownat B adjacent the wall 46. In this 'form of device the outer panel 45b is'providedwith a towel rack orhold- 50 ing means 52 disposed onthe exterior face thereof, which holding means will be brought into position for access'by "the showerruserwhen the door is folded into the position B'. .It will .be understood. that the door-.45 may-be provided with a sealing means on'the loweredge thereof after the manner shown in Figs. .3'and 6, if'de sired, which'will-"cooperate withthe; outer edge or wall 53 of thetub 41 after the manner above described; 1 Numerous modifications. of theIabove-Zspecific forms of device are-obviouslypossible, and any desired number of panels may be-employed'to obtain enclosure of the desired proportion of .the open wall of the tub, as will be apparent tolone skilled inv the art. 'In like .manner,=the...door structure will be disposed at the most desirable end of the tub for theparticularinstallation involved and may be made toswing interiorly: or exteriorly to'the tub according? to. the-choice of the user. One of the essential requirements of the bath-tubconstruction is'that one end of such tub abuts'against a wall. ofthe bath-room; .and as shownrespectively in Figsrl and 7, such abutment maybe at.either. end of such tub. It-will be appreciated that the abutting wall may not actually form a part of the bath-room itself, as the tub may be isolated if desired in a large bath-room, in which case some form of wall member will be provided at the end of the tub to provide support for the door construction and to also provide an at least partial enclosure for the tub adjacent the shower end thereof.

I claim:

1. A shower door construction for use with a bath-tub having its two ends abutting against opposing walls and having an exposed edge, which comprises a plurality of vertical panels hingedly interconnected at their adjacent vertical edges to form a folding structure disposed above the tub, hinge means secured to one of said walls adjacent said exposed edge and to a vertical edge of one of said panels to support the complete folding structure, said panels being hingedly interconnected in such manner as to provide for folding movement of said structure between a folded position. such that said panels are disposed adjacent said wall and an extended position such that said panels are alined edge to edge along said exposed edge of said tub to form a substantially complete enclosure for said tub along said exposed edge.

2. The construction set forth in claim 1, and comprising in addition, deformable sealing means secured to and extending along the lower edge of each of said panels, each of said sealing means being positioned to engage the upper surface of the exposed edge of said tub in sealing relation thereto in said'extended position of said structure, and the respective sealing means of the adjacent panels being positioned to abut one another at their adjacent ends in compressive engagement to form a substantially continuous seal along said exposed edge when said structure is in said extended position.

3. A shower door construction for use with a bath-tub having one end abutting against a wall and having an exposed edge, which comprises: a plurality of vertical panels hingedly interconnected at their adjacent vertical edges to form a folding structure disposed above the tub; hinge means secured to said wall adjacent said exposed edge of said tub and to a vertical edge of one of said panels to support the complete folding structure, said panels being hingedly interconnected in such manner as to provide for folding movement of said structure between a folded position entirely inwardly of said exposed tub edge and adjacent said wall and. an extended position with said panels in edge-to-edge alinement along said exposed side of said tub; and deformable sealing means secured to and extending along the lower edge of each of said panels, said sealing means being of such dimensions and being so positioned as to be brought into forcible engagement with the upper surface of said exposed edge when said panels are in extended position, to cause said panels to persist in said extended position.

4. The construction set forth in claim 3, the respective sealing means of the adjacent panels being positioned to abut one another at their adjacent ends in compressive engagement to form a substantially continuous seal along said exposed edge when said structure is in said extended position.

JOHN A. WOODWORTH. 

